Closest
by xxxBloodiedWolfPawxxx
Summary: Naomi Paradeen is a Rock Dragon Slayer who is rescued from certian death by Natsu and his team. Due to certian past events she has withdrawn into a shell which Natsu is ditermined to bring her out of. Can he ? And What other surprises lie instore for our friends? NatsuxOC GrayxLucy ErzaxJellal GajeelxLevy
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

For a girl who was raised by a rock dragon, you wouldn't believe it. Naomi Paradeen was… Very shy, though she did have a horrible temper. However, she hated fighting (unless she was angry or protecting someone) and she was easily embarrassed.

Moreover, if it hadn't been for Natsu and the rest of the team, she might not have lived to join Fairy Tail…

Okay, I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself…

As I have already stated, Naomi Paradeen was a Rock Dragon Slayer. After Granite, (Pronounced Gran-Night), disappeared, she lived… A sort of lonely life. She would take requests as a solo wizard, and was deemed S-class by the time she was 12. No one ever knew much about her, since she was always very quiet, and she traveled far and wide across Fiore, never making a single place a home. Never staying in a single place very long, and never interacting with others, refusing to make bonds that would never last.

She was too scared of losing someone else, not willing to lose something she loved again. Not after Granite left her. No, she would not allow herself to be broken again. She could never let herself love.

"So all I have to do is get rid of the monster?" she asked in a blank tone of her client, a tall balding grey haired man.

"Y-Yes dear. That thing is terrorizing our citizens." He replied in a shaky tone. He looked out the window, into the town, where the streets were quiet at the moment.

"Where is it hiding?" She asked, her tone blank still, not a shred of concern in her tone. All she was worried about was staying as detached as she could. She couldn't feel back for these people or it would just cause her problems. Them as well, but she refused to dwell on that. She couldn't. The pain would be too much.

"N-Near the drawbridge," the man said, snapping her out of her thoughts. She nodded.

"Alright. I'll see what I can do," She said turning on her heel and walking out. She let her feet do the work and let her mind become blank. There was no one on the streets, and her dark brown hair blew lightly in the breeze, her black eyes dull, and emotionless.

Deep down, she did care, but she couldn't let these feeling get past the wall she put up. She couldn't let herself be hurt again. She wouldn't be able to take it… It would ruin her and destroy her completely.

As she neared the bridge, she focused at the task at hand, her eyes becoming a blank alertness as she looked around for the creature that had been attacking the city.

It seemed to come out of nowhere, and if it hadn't been for her quick reaction, the monster would have destroyed her in one hit. She leapt to the side with amazing agility, and slammed her fists together. "Rokku no Ken*!" She yelled. Her arm became rock hard as she leapt at the large, blue and grey monster that stood over eight feet tall. She slammed her fist into its face, but was sent flying but its counter attack.

She still managed to land on her feet, though she was breathing heavily and could feel a sharp pain in her side. "Damn…"

However, she couldn't let this stop her. She had a job to do.

"Rokku no hoko**!" she screamed, large rocks flying from her mouth and pelting the creature.

It cried out in pain and anger, sweeping his arm after her quickly, hitting her and causing her to scream in pain. She flew at least twenty feet in the air before coming back down and hitting hard, causing a small indent in the Earth under her. She groaned, and panicked when she found she couldn't move.

'No! It's going to kill me!' she thought in a panic, as it brought its arms up again. She couldn't even scream and could only close her eyes and wait for death…

"KURYU NO HOKO!" Her eyes shot open but she couldn't see who was apparently defending her. However, what really got her was that she recognized that as a dragon slayer spell… A few more voices joined in and the monster roared in pain and anger some more before the cries cut off completely and there was a crashing sound.

"Boys! Lucy! Over here!" A woman's voice called, as the edges of Naomi's vision started to turn black.

"Crap!" a boy's voice shouted.

"Miss, are you okay?" the first woman's voice said. She couldn't make her mouth work as her eyes slipped closed and her consciousness faded.

…

When she finally found consciousness, again she was aware of two things. One, she had no idea where she was, and two she hurt like crazy…

The next thing that snuck into her awareness was that there were people near her, talking softly, the same voices from before.

She tried to sit up, but gasped in pain, laying right back down, and managing to get the attention of the people.

"She's awake," a girl's voice said. Four people and a small blue cat appeared in her vision.

"How are you feeling?" A red haired woman said this, and her voice was the one from before she'd passed out.

She couldn't make her voice work, and simply looked down instead.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk," a blonde girl said, her voice being the first one she'd heard when she woke.

"Maybe we should let her rest some more…" the voice belonged to a raven-haired boy, and he had been the one she'd heard speak before she passed out as well.

"That's a good idea." The woman said, and they moved away from her. It wasn't long before she fell back asleep.

…

She wasn't sure how long she had slept but she was able to sit up this time, and rubbed her eyes. At this time, only one of the people was in the room, and he had rosette colored hair.

"Oh! You're awake!" He she recognized his voice as being the one who had cast the slayer spell.

"You… saved me…," she said softly. Her cheeks tinted a slight pink.

"Uh, yeah… You looked like you were in trouble," He said just as softly as she had.

"Th-Thank you…" she forced out. She wasn't used to having to thank anyone.

"Not a problem. I'm Natsu by the way," he said with a small smile.

"Um… I'm uh… Naomi…" she said squeezing her eyes closed. She could hear him laugh.

"No need to be so lively…"

She looked over at him a second before turning over and laying down…

**A/N: So how was it? This is my first time writing for Fairy Tail but I've written other stories which you are welcome to check out. I also included the translations for Naomi's attacks. So please Review and give me your opinion, just don't be mean. Thanks! :)**

***Rock Dragon's Fist**

**** Rock Dragon's Roar**

**3 Alice 3**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Naomi had always recovered and healed quickly; it was just part of her dragon slayer magic. But the four people who had apparently made it their mission to take care of her were surprised by her rapid healing, even the dragon slayer boy, Natsu. He was the only one who had told her his name but she had picked up the other's names by listening to their conversations. The red head's name was Erza, the blonde was Lucy, the raven was Gray, and the little blue cat was Happy. It seemed like an odd name for a flying cat but she said nothing about it. In all honesty, she hadn't spoken a word since she'd spoken to Natsu the first day after she'd woken up.

After a few days, she was totally healed and the others had gone out to do something or other, but Natsu stayed behind to see if she would talk to him again.

"So, we're gonna be leaving this town soon, seeing as you're feeling better," he started. "And Erza wanted me to see if you had any plans…"

She looked down, not sure, if she really should answer him. When she didn't he added, "Because if you didn't we wanted to know if you'd like to join our guild…"

She looked at him at that. "Guild? What guild?" she asked softly, her voice so quiet if Natsu hadn't had heightened hearing he might not have heard her.

"Fairy Tail. We're the most famous guild out there," he answered with a grin. "So what'd 'ya say? Wanna join?"

"Why should I?" she asked. "I don't see the point."

He frowned. "You travel alone right? Isn't that lonely? Don't ya wanna be in a place where you have lots of friends?"

"No. I travel alone for a reason. I don't need friends," she said. Natsu winced a little. She hadn't meant to come off as so cold, but if it got her point across then fine.

"Please? Try it? For just a little bit? If you don't like it, you can leave but… You seem really cool and you're a dragon slayer too and, well, I guess I just want to get to know you…" he said sheepishly.

"Why should I? It'd just be a waste of my time."

"What if we made a bet?" he asked.

"A bet?"

"Fight me and if you win, you can leave and I'll quit bugging you, but if I win you have to join the guild?"

"Or you could just leave me alone period."

"C'mon! Please?" he pleaded. "Please, please, please, please, please. plea-"

"Fine! I'll join your damn guild!" she snapped starting to get irritated. "But I swear to god, you better not expect me to stay long." she growled.

"Yes!" Natsu cheered jumping up and punching the air. She rolled her eyes and laid down.

This boy… She hadn't wanted to talk to him at all and yet… She had… What was wrong with her? What the hell was he doing to her that made her act so out of character? If she wasn't careful he would ruin everything she had fought so hard to put up, and would breach her wall, and that just couldn't happen.

She couldn't risk a bind like that. She couldn't have friends, or anything else but her solitude. It was the only thing that was safe.

Natsu was slightly confused by her actions, and wanted to question her about it, but it just didn't seem right. He also had noticed that she had a sad look in her eyes that she didn't seem aware of. It made him kinda sad, since it reminded him of how he felt when Igneel had disappeared and seeing as this girl was a dragon slayer too he had a slight feeling that it was somehow connected.

Somehow, he just didn't know how… It bugged him enough he was going to find out though, even if he had to follow her everywhere, which he didn't want to do since he'd seem like a stalker and that was just not his thing, and since Lucy was on his team so his stalking her didn't count.

He would get to the bottom of this, and though he knew it would take time, he was stubbornly determined. He'd figure it out and find a way to fix it if it were the last thing he did, since watching people suffer upset him just as much as someone hurting his friends. He just wouldn't stand for it. No matter what he had to do.

The others found it kind of funny that he would be willing to do this for a complete stranger but they also knew that with all the things he's gone through over the years, from being taken in by Igneel to this day, he would always be willing to help someone in their time of need, whether the person wanted the help or not. That was just how he was. He would always be like that.

As he thought all this over he looked outside the window to a tree where birds were singing a pretty song and he smiled a little. 'If only everything was as simple as a bird's song… Then again life wouldn't be as exciting so I guess it's okay…' he laughed at his own thoughts and then looked back over at Naomi. Her back was to him and his smile fell a little. 'I really wonder what happened to make her like this though… Ugh, I hate it when people are upset or hurting…' he thought pulling his knees to his chest and frowning, as he laid his chin on his knees. 'It makes me sad too…'

He heard the sound of the door opening and Happy bounded in, jumping into his lap with a grin.

"Natsu! Natsu! You have to come to the park! Erza's totally giving it to Gray! You have to come see it!" the small blue cat said cheerfully.

"Alright! About time that ice freak got it!" He cried jumping up as Happy took to the air.

"Let's go!" Happy cried flying out. Totally forgetting Naomi in his excitement Natsu followed Happy out and said girl sighed in relief and turned onto her back.

"Finally. I'm alone," she said aloud, letting her eyes fall closed. Images of Granite flashed in her mind and a few tears fell, slipping down her cheeks. Within a few minutes, she was on her side full out sobbing, unable to keep the wall that blocked her emotions up at that moment. 'It's all that boy's fault,' she thought. 'If he hadn't bugged me about that damn guild this wouldn't be happening.'

When she could finally control herself and manage to get the wall back up to block everything thing out she tried hard to go to sleep. She didn't want to deal with those people when they got back from where ever. She didn't care. She just couldn't find enough will to care…


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the reviews but theres a few things I'd like to say regarding them.**

**Lucy is and will be a big part of helping Naomi and Natsu get together and will also be a big part in pulling her out of her shell, Gray as well, so sorry that you don't want her as the main girl but oh well.**

**This will not be made into a high school story, and it will stay the way it is. If someone out there wants to make a version of this story like that, PM me and we'll talk.**

**I know the characters are slightly OOC but I'm sorry. I can't really do anything about it, since I write how I write, so ignore the OOC-ness.**

**I do not have a way to get a hold of my beta so all of my work is not beta'd. Sorry, but ignore my typos.**

**My chapters will not be any longer for the most part, unless something special is happening in the chapter, and they shouldn't get any shorter, and the same rules apply.**

**I do not own Fairy Tail, (since I forgot to put this in the last couple chapters) and I never will. It is the property of Hiro Mashima.**

**Thanks again for your reviews, and enjoy the story.**

**Chapter 3**

By the next day, the group was packed and ready to head back to Fairy Tail. Naomi made sure to stay behind, and ignore Natsu when he tried to speak to her. It wasn't worth her aggravation, and she didn't want to risk her wall falling again. The risk of getting hurt because of it scared her too much, so she stayed in the back with her head down.

She noticed that when Natsu wasn't bugging her, he was usually talking everyone else's ears off, or arguing with Gray. Once they actually had to stop so the boys could duke it out, until Erza became fed up with it and broke them up.

It took them about three days to make it back to Magnolia Town, and then back to the guild. Naomi gazed at the large building for a few moments before looking down again as she followed the four into the chaotic guildhall. Already she wished that she hadn't been forced to join, since most of the people seemed drunk and moronic. But nonetheless, a deal was a deal and if anything, she never went back on her word.

She stood in front of the door, as the four dispersed, Gray going over to a table and sitting, a blue haired woman almost immediately in his face, asking him about their mission. Lucy and Natsu headed to the bar, Lucy sitting on a stool next to a blue haired girl, and speaking with her and a white haired woman. Natsu had gone over to a small white haired man, and started speaking to him, gesturing in her direction every so often. Erza had simply disappeared into the crowd, and Naomi didn't really care where she'd gone.

She started to gaze around the hall when a Natsu ran back over and grabbed her arm, startling her. Before she could protest, he dragged her over to the small old man.

"Gramps! This is Naomi!" He practically yelled as they came to a stop in front of him. The small man looked at her, checking her over briefly before smiling wide.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail! Natsu here was telling me you wanted to join," he said. She shrugged and he raised an eyebrow but comment.

"Mira! Come get this girl a stamp will you?" he called over to the white haired woman.

"Sure thing Master!" she called back and Naomi snorted softly enough the no one else heard it as the woman came over with a small stamp pad. "Where would you like it?" she asked.

All Naomi did was turn around and lift up her hair, signaling that she wanted it on the back of her neck. It wasn't even two seconds before she felt the stamp pad pressed into her skin. As soon as that was done, she let her hair fall and she turned back around, crossing her arms.

It didn't seem like they had anything more to say to her so she turned and walked away, finding herself sitting on the floor in the corner, the one place she felt no one would bug her.

"Hey! What're ya doin over here?" she looked up to; of course, find Natsu staring down at her. "Shouldn't you try and make some friends or something?" he asked his voice obnoxiously and ridiculously loud. She glared up at him.

"I told you before, I don't need friends. I'm only humoring you. Don't get used to it," she snapped, her tone dark and serious. He frowned.

"That's gonna hafta change," he said. She shook her head and looked back down.

"Just leave me alone," she growled. His frown deepened but he did as she asked and walked away, starting yet another argument as soon as he had. She sighed and laid her head back, closing her eyes, trying to tune out all the chaos.

Of course, it was easier said than done, so she got to listen to a whole guild riot, and then got to listen to Erza break it up and scold everyone involved and then the clean up, none of which was pleasant. By late that night things started to quiet down and she managed to fall asleep in the corner.

Her dreams were nothing pleasant either.

They consisted of Granite, and images of her childhood, before watching Granite fly away and everything crumble around her. Even as she slept, tears fell down her cheeks.

She just couldn't imagine going through pain like that again. Couldn't imagine opening herself up to be hurt again. She just couldn't imagine it, and she knew that if she went through that again, she would lose herself. The real her, that she just couldn't afford to lose.

Deep down she would always care, and always be the fun loving, cute dragon slayer who hated fighting. But on the outside, she would remain cold, distant, and quiet. No one would ever know her other side again if she could help it. She couldn't afford the pain. And she didn't want to have to let anyone down either.

But which was more important? She couldn't really tell you…


End file.
